CASPER — William “Bill” McMillan celebrated his 103rd birthday on Dec. 19, making him one of the few centenarians in Wyoming.
As rare as that is, he’s also part of an even more exclusive group — one of fewer than 45,000 World War II veterans still alive, according to the National World War II Museum.
With about 16.4 million Greatest Generation Americans serving in WWII, fewer than 0.5% are still living. And those numbers are quickly growing closer to zero with the youngest of these soldiers now in their late 90s.
McMillan is a survivor. He survived World War II, then was called back to service in the Korean War, and held a top-secret assignment with the Atomic Energy Commission.
And he still survives as an independent living tribute to the last century of American history.
In The Beginning
McMillan was born near Globe, Arizona, to Walter McMillan, a barber, and his wife Grace.
Warren Harding was president of the United States, the average annual income was $3,143 and the average life expectancy for a man was 58.4 years.
McMillan has blown far beyond that, representing a vanishing breed as a living World War II veteran.
The dad and now “single parent” who lost his wife Lucy Helen McMillan earlier this year at age 99, lives in his home on the North Platte River west of Casper.
His son Walter, 76, lives in the basement.
They kind of take care of each other with the help of a former neighbor, Tom Covert, and periodic visits by care workers associated with the Veterans Administration.
“We get along good,” Walter said. “I come up here three times a day — morning, noon and evening — and check on him.”
With the help of a walker, Bill still navigates through the home he helped finish.
On a cabinet at the far end of the kitchen and dining room space sits a small cabinet that supports three photos representing his service to the nation.
In the center is a photo of Bill in his sailor’s uniform and his wife, Lucy. To the left is a photo of Walter F. McMillan Jr., Bill’s older brother with a Purple Heart attached to it.
On the right is a photo of Bill’s son, Walter, in his U.S. Army uniform from the years he served in 1968-1971.
Bill’s brother died on Sept. 26, 1943, when his bomber was brought down over Europe.
He was a top turret gunner in the 385th Bomber Group, 51st Bomber Squadron, and is buried at Fort McPherson National Cemetery in Maxwell, Nevada.
On a stool nearby is a cap with the gold stitched lettering: “WWII” separated by a star with the word “Korea” and below that a row of stitched medals is the word “Veteran.”
“I’m a veteran of World War II and I am in good health as far as that goes,” Bill told Cowboy State Daily.
His memory of the years he spent in Alaska and on a ship near Okinawa are fading, but there are some highlights he shares.
Photos in the dining area of the McMillan home show the two-generations of military service. At left is a photo of Walter F. McMillan Jr., a gunner on a bomber who lost his life in World War II. In the middle is a photo of Bill McMillan and his wife, Lucy Helen, and Walter McMillan, Bill’s son who served stateside in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. (Dale Killingbeck, Cowboy State Daily) 
Bill and his wife, Lucy Helen, pose for a photo. (Courtesy Bill McMillan) 
Sailors man a gun station on a ship during apparent combat action. (Courtesy Bill McMillan) 
A photo in Bill McMillan’s scrapbook shows a destroyer escort in a coastal area. The number of the ship corresponds to the USS Rall. (Courtesy Bill McMillan)
Shot At 18
One clear memory is the struggle to get into military service after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.
He said he tried to get into the Marines and U.S. Army and was turned down because of a physical condition not fully healed.
The 18-year-old had been shot.
“I thought it was accidental, but the more I thought about it, it was on purpose,” he said, looking back through time. “Supposedly a friend of mine. … His name was Guy Looney.”
The bullet entered his back and Bill points to the upper part of his right chest to show the bullet fragments are lodged “way up here.”
Bill’s memory is confirmed by a story in the Arizona Republic newspaper on Feb. 15, 1941, that carried the headline, “Accidental Shot Injures Youth.”
“William C. McMillan, 18 years old, was shot in the back at the Claypool Hotel here today when a pistol held by Guy Looney, 19, discharged accidentally,” the paper reported. “Deputies of William H. Richardson, sheriff, said Looney was following McMillan up the stairway when the weapon discharged.
“Both McMillan and Looney were carrying pistols, and each believed the guns were unloaded, the deputies reported.”
McMillan’s condition was described as “fair.”
Bill shares that when he finally enlisted in the Navy it was in Harlingen, Texas, and the service was recruiting many men at the time.
He remembers something about the loss of four brothers on a ship and the Navy seeking replacements.
Thinking back, he believes that he got in because he slipped through without the Navy giving him a thorough physical.
Bill McMillan, left, and friends are shown at an enlisted men’s club in Japan during the Korean War. (Courtesy Bill McMillan) 
A photo in Bill McMillan’s scrapbook shows devastation. There was no information on the location. (Courtesy Bill McMillan) 
Bill McMillan poses in uniform during his war years. (Courtesy Bill McMillan) Bill McMillan poses in a field while on a deployment. (Courtesy Bill McMillan)
Aleutian Assignment
Trying to remember his war service is kind of hazy, but Bill recalls being assigned to a station on Adak in the Aleutian Islands for 16 months, where as a gunner’s mate second class he oversaw the armory and firing range.
Walter McMillan confirms that his father was a weapon’s instructor at the range.
At some point during the war in the Pacific, Bill McMillan found himself on a mine sweeper that was part of the fleet of ships preparing for the invasion of Okinawa in April 1945.
While performing a sweep of the waters around the landing beaches prior to the invasion and standing on the bridge, he recalls the terror of seeing a torpedo coming at his ship.
Because his craft was designed to be flat-bottomed because of its minesweeping role, he said the torpedo went under the ship.
“That was my only experience at war was at Okinawa,” he said. “I was scared. There was a destroyer that was keeping an eye on us.”
Bill said the destroyer blew up the source of the torpedo, which he believes was a Japanese submarine.
In a photo album in the home’s basement, Bill has a picture of the USS Rall, a destroyer escort used to protect ships from Japanese submarines. On the back of the photo are the words “sister ship.”
He tried hard but could not remember the name of his minesweeper.
Another memory from the war involves seeing a Japanese officer wearing a sword and standing in the ruins of his country in Japan.
Bill can’t recall all the details, but believes it was after the Japanese surrendered somewhere on the Japanese islands.
After World War II and a return to civilian life, marriage and a family, was was recalled to service in Korea.
His only memory that survives from that time was taking a ship from the U.S. West Coast to Japan and turning it over to the Japanese so they could use it in their self-defense.
In his scrapbook in the basement, there is a photo of Bill with other sailors and the label “E.M. (Enlisted Men’s) Club Oppama, Japan, 1952.”
Nuclear Security
Outside the service, Bill McMillan got a job with the Atomic Energy Commission.
Walter said the family lived in different places around the country as his dad worked assignments providing security for secret shipment of nuclear material.
“He had a bag that he kept by the door. He would get a call and he would leave,” Walter said. “He couldn’t tell us where he was going or when he would be back. If it was a truck shipment, him and his group followed in a little station wagon and kept a little locker with Thompson submachine guns.
"Nobody messed with that truck. If it was a railroad shipment, they rode in the box car with their little footlocker, .30-caliber machine guns. That was his job.”
After leaving the Atomic Energy Commission, Bill worked for a utility company, serving as a shift supervisor at a coal-fired power plant in Arizona, Walter said.
Bill and his wife retired to Casper 30 years ago following a visit to a cousin and finding the area to their liking.
The first person he met after buying his property and launching his house project was Tom Covert.
“He was the first person I knew. I was in the camper, and he came down to visit me,” Bill said.
Covert continues to make regular trips to check on the pair and brings out groceries and other necessities a couple of times a week.
Though he no longer owns the property nearby, Covert has continued to help his friends.
“When COVID hit, we would get a list of groceries and bring it out to them,” Covert said, characterizing Bill as “a very caring guy and … very generous.”
Scrambled Eggs And Sausage
A typical day for the 103-year-old involves getting up and making himself the same breakfast using the groceries brought out by Covert.
“I like scrambled eggs and sausage,” he said. “I eat it a lot. I like it.”
After that he enjoys watching movies, particularly Westerns and science fiction films. His favorite actor is John Wayne.
Sometimes he takes a walk with his walker to get some exercise, but he is careful to do it indoors. Last summer there was a fall outside and Covert found Bill on his back on the ground.
Bill looks back over the years and calls his life a “good one.”
He has good thoughts about the people who worked with him and for him at the Atomic Energy Commission.
As for making it to 103 and looking at another new year, he said there's no special formula that he knows of that brought him to his advanced age.
“I didn’t think I’d make it,” he said. “But I did.”
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
